Monday, February 7, 2011

Crafty Monday - Make Your Own Stitch Markers!

Welcome! It seems to be Crafty Monday around these parts! For some reason, I got a lot of crafty stuff done today, but I'm going to parcel out crafty tips over a few weeks so you all don't get overwhelmed with the craftiness.

Today's topic is stitch markers. I, like many knitters, am always looking for new gadgets and tools and enhancements to my knitting experience. Specifically, I'm always looking for good stitch markers. I've bought and received as gifts those stitch markers that look like jewelry - the kind that hang off a loop that sits on the needle.

As pretty as some of these are, I find them a pain in the patootie to knit with. They keep getting stuck in between stitches or they need to be flipped to the front or back of my knitting depending on what stitch I'm doing.We're pretty, but we don't work well!

I wanted markers that were circles, like those ubiquitous plastic ones that we all have. I've never attempted to make stitch markers before, but I saw some online that looked like just the ticket, so I thought I'd try to recreate them. And let me tell you, they are the easiest things in the world to make! And they work! And they're pretty!We work! And we're easy to make!

Yep. That's it. You need 10mm jump rings - the kind that are a single circle, not a coil - which you can purchase at any big box craft store or bead store, and size 6 (or E) beads, also widely available all over the place. (If you are like me, you have trillions of these beads lying around from various beading and knitting projects.)

You don't even need pliers to make these. Simply pry the jump ring apart with your fingers, slip on a bead, and then pry the jump ring back together. Voila! That's it! You're done! I took these out for a spin on a pair of mittens I'm making (Shelburne from knitty.com, if you must know).(Terrible picture, but seeing the cat's feet made me crack up)

Those mittens are on a size #9 needle, and the markers work perfectly. They had smaller jump rings at the store, but I like markers on the big side, even if I'm using small needles. I'm going to troll Etsy and see if they have even larger ones.

No more plastic markers! Make some pretty ones of your very own today! And think of what a nice gift for your knitter friends a set of these would make!

You can also use some jewelers glue to glue the bead over the ends of the jump ring. My jump rings will sometimes snag on my knitting, but once I glued the bead over the opening, they worked MUCH better!